21 December 2011
31 December 2011
EBA/2011/015/OPS/SER/OP
Instructions to Tender for Open Invitation to Tender - Procurement Procedure for the Supply of Website Services to the European Banking Authority(EBA) (Lot 1 and Lot 2) with Reference No. EBA/2011/015/OPS/SER/OP
Table of Contents
1. Title of the Invitation to Tender
2. Objectives and Context of the Invitation to Tender
3. Subject of the Tender
4. Participation in the Tender
4.1. Multilateral Agreement on Public Procurement
4.2. Subcontracting
5. Additional Documentation available to Tenderers
6. Information Visit
7. Variants
8. Estimated Contract Volume
9. Price
9.1. Currency of tender
9.2. All-inclusive prices
9.3. Price revision
9.4. Costs involved in preparing and submitting a tender
9.5. Period of validity of the tender
9.6. Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union
10. Payment arrangements
11. Contractual details
12. Exclusion criteria
13. Selection criteria: financial and economic capacity
14. Selection criteria: technical and professional capacity
15. Award criteria
16. Tender to be submitted
Annex I Costing Sheetto be used by Tenderers
Annex IIExclusion Criteria Statement and Details of Supporting Documentation Required
Annex III Summary Checklist of Documents which Tenderers must submit
Annex IV Draft Contracts
Annex VTerms of Reference
Annex VILegal Entity and Bank Account Files
Instructions to Tender for OpenInvitation to Tender - Reference No.EBA/2011/015/OPS/SER/OP - Procurement Procedure for the Supply of Website Services to the European Banking Authority(EBA) (Lot 1 and Lot 2)
1. Title of the Invitation to Tender
This document contains the Instructions to Tender and Annexes for the Open Invitation to Tender No.EBA/2011/015/OPS/SER/OP. The title of the Procurement Procedure is the Supply of Website Services to the European Banking Authority (EBA) (Lot 1 and Lot 2).
The Contract Notice for this Open Tender has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU S252) on 31 December 2011.
2. Objectives and Context of the Invitation to Tender
Please refer to Annex V Terms of Reference.
3. Subject of the Tender
Please refer to Annex V Terms of Reference for a detailed description of the subject of the tender.
4. Participation in the Tender
4.1. Multilateral Agreement on Public Procurement
Participation in this tendering procedure shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons coming within the scope of the Treaties and to all natural and legal persons in a third country which has a special agreement with the European Union in the field of public procurement under the conditions laid down in that agreement.
Where the Multilateral Agreement on Public Procurement concluded within the World Trade Organisation applies, the tendering procedure shall also be open to nationals of the countries which have ratified this agreement, under the conditions laid down in that Agreement. In that connection, it should be noted that the services under Annex II-B to Directive DIR/2004/18/EC and the R&D services listed in category 8 of Annex II-A to that Directive are not covered by the Agreement.
4.2. Subcontracting
Subcontracting is not allowed.
5. Additional Documentation Available to Tenderers
Further information about the work of the EBA can be obtained from its website:
6. Information and/or Site Visit
No information or site visit is deemednecessary.
7. Variants
Not Applicable.
8. Estimated Contract Volume
The volume and scope of the services for Lot 1 are defined in detail in Annex V. For Lot 2 EBA estimates, without this being binding, that over a four year period, the overall value may range from GBP £45,000 to GBP £60,000 exclusive of VAT.
9. Price
9.1. Currency of Tender
Prices should be submitted in GBP. Annex I Costing Sheet attached to these Instructions to Tender must be used to submit a financial offer. Please note that the Costing Sheet must be submitted in a separate binderor folder, which must be clearly labelled, and placed inside a separate sealed envelope.
9.2. All-Inclusive Prices
Prices submitted in response to this tender must be inclusive of all costs involved. No expenses incurred in the performance of the services will be reimbursed separately by the EBA.
9.3. Price Revision
Prices submitted in response to this tender shall be fixed and not subject to revision during the first year of performance.
From the beginning of the second year of performance prices may be revised upwards or downwards each year, where such revision is requested by one of the contracting parties by notice served no later than three months before the anniversary of the date on which the contracts became effective. Specific Contracts or Purchase Orders related to Lot 2 shall be concluded on the basis of the prices in force on the date on which they are signed. Such prices shall not be subject to revision.
This revision shall be determined by the trend in the Retail Price Indices (RPI) covering the United Kingdom, where the services are to be performed. The RPI is published on a monthly basis by the National Statistics Office, 1 Drummond Gate, London SW1V 2QQ,
Revision shall be calculated in accordance with the following formula:
Ir
Ar=Ao—
Io
where
Ar=revised total amount;
Ao=total amount in the original tender;
Io=index for the month in which the validity of the tender expires;
Ir=index for the month corresponding to the date of receipt of the letter requestinga revision of prices.
9.4. Costs Involved in Preparing and Submitting a Tender
The EBA will not reimburse any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a tender. Any such costs must be paid by the tenderer.
9.5. Period of Validity of the Tender
Tenderers must enclose a confirmation that their tenders and prices given are valid for six months from the date of submission of the tender.
9.6. Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union
EBA is, as a rule, exempt from all taxes and duties, and in certain circumstances is entitled to a refund for indirect tax incurred such as Value Added Tax (VAT), pursuant to the provisions of Articles 3 and4 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union. Tenderers must therefore give prices which are exclusive of any taxes and duties and must indicate the amount of VAT separately.
10. Payment Arrangements
Payments shall be executed only if the Contractor has fulfilled all its contractual obligations by the date on which the invoice is submitted, including the specified deliverables.
11. Description of the Contract
EBA intends to conclude two separate contracts with the same provider namely (i) a services contract for the hosting, operation, related services and redesign of its website (Lot 1) and (ii) a framework contract for the provision of additional website services (Lot 2). Tenderers must therefore provide a technical and financial offerfor both Lot 1 and Lot 2. Both contracts will be concluded for an initial period of one year with the possibility of renewal for three further periodsof one year each. The frameworkcontractwill establish the terms governing the specific contracts or purchase ordersto be awarded during a given period, in particular the scope and price of the services. Signature of the framework contract imposes no obligation on the EBA to order services. Only the implementation of the framework contract through specific contracts or purchase orders is binding for the EBA. Each specific contract or purchase orderwill contain details of the services to be provided. Draft contracts are attached to these Instructions to Tender as Annex IV. Tenderers must confirm acceptance of the contracts as well as the terms and conditions of the tender as part of their tender response.
12. Exclusion Criteria
Tenderers shall be excluded from participation in this procurement procedure if:
- they are insolvent (or the subject of bankruptcy proceedings if an individual) or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
- they have been convicted of an offence (if an individual) or judgment has been made against them concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of res judicata;
- they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify;
- they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the contracting authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed;
- they have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the European Union’s financial interests;
- following another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed by the European Union budget, they have been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with their contractual obligations.
- Contracts may not be awarded to candidates or tenderers who, during the procurement procedure:
- are subject to a conflict of interest;
- are guilty, either knowingly or negligently, of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or fail to supply this information.
Tenderers must complete, date and sign the declaration in Annex II in relation to Exclusion Criteria. Only the successful tenderer will be required to provide all the supporting documentation indicated in Annex II at a later stage prior to signature of the contracts.
13. Selection Criteria: Financial and Economic Capacity
Tenderers shouldbe in astable financial position and have the economic and financial capacity to perform the contract. The minimumfinancial and economic capacity requirement for Lot 1 and Lot 2 is as follows:Tenderers must have had an average annual turnover in the last three years (2009, 2010 and 2011) of at least GBP £350,000. Tenderers are requested to provide the following documentation to enable an assessment of their financial and economic capacity:
1.A copy of the most recent audited accounts that cover the last three years of trading or for the period that is available if trading for less than three years.
2.A statement of the company’s turnover, profit and loss, and cash flow position for the most recent full year of trading (or part year if full year not applicable) and an end period balance sheet, where this information is not available in audited form at point 1 above.
3.Where documents mentioned under point 2 cannot be provided, please provide a statement of the company’s cash flow forecast for the current year and a bank letter outlining the current cash and credit facility position.
4.If the organisation is a member of a group of companies, documents under points 1, 2 and 3 are required for both the tenderer and its ultimate holding company. Where a consortium or association is proposed, the information is requested for each member company.
5.Please enclose a separate statement of the tenderer’s turnover that relates directly to the requirements of the EBA for the past three years, or for the period the tenderer has been trading (if less than three years).
6.Evidence of relevant insurancefor the contracts.
If the tenderer is not obliged to publish its accounts under the company law of the country in which itis established, please supply copies of such accounting information as the tenderer is willing to provide relating to the last three financial years or any period since the end of the last financial year.
14. Selection Criteria:Technical and Professional Capacity
The minimum professional and technical capacity requirementsfor Lot 1 and 2 are as follows:
(a)Tenderers must have at least 3years of experience during the last 3 years (2009, 2010 and 2011) providing similar services (i.e. website redesign, hosting, transitions, development, security, availability on a daily basis) to the ones described in Annex V Terms of Reference.
(b)Tenderers must possess all the necessary resources (i.e. sufficient qualified staff, equipment, premises, hosting servers, software) in order to be able to carry out the services described in Annex V Terms of Reference.
Tenderers are requested to provide the following documentation to enable an assessment of their technical and professional capacity:
- Proof of authorisation to perform the contract under national law, as evidenced by inclusion in a trade or professional register, or a sworn declaration or certificate, membership of a specific organisation, express authorisation, or entry in the VAT register
- A description of the company profile and structure including human resources, equipment, premises, hosting servers, software
- A list of the principal services performed during the last 3 years (2009, 2010 and 2011) giving the dates, name and address of the client, and description of the services undertaken including name and role of any sub-contractors and/or consortium members. The EBA may elect to contact any of the aforementioned companies for a reference. Your permission to do so will be assumed unless you state any objections
15. Award Criteria
The award criterion which will apply to this tender is the most economically advantageous tender where technical merit is weighted against price on a 75/25 basis:
Tenderers complying with the selection criteria will have their tender evaluated in terms of technical merit as described below.
Technical Merit:
The technical merit shall be assessed in terms of the following criteria:
Technical Award Criteria / Maximum PointsUnderstanding:
This criterion is used to assess whether tenderers have understood all the issues involved, as well as the nature of the work to be undertaken and whetherall of the aspects required to attain the EBA's objectives are taken into consideration in order to provide the services and/or products requested. / 30
Project Management, Resources and Availability:
This criterion relates to the quality of project planning, the organisation of the team with a view to managing a project of this nature and the quality and availability of the human and technical resources for the timely and accurate completion of the tasks. / 30
Quality of Technical Solution:
This criterion relates to the quality of the technical solution proposed by the tenderer(e.g. CMS, hosting, server, security, service level agreement, redesign) / 30
Creativity:
This criterion is used to assess the originality of ideas and the creativity the tenderer intends to bring in its approach. / 10
Total: / 100
Tenderers must achieve a minimum of 70 points of the total available points for technical merit to be admitted to the financial evaluation. Tenderers must provide the following information to enable an assessment of the technical merit of their tender:
A detailed description of the composition and organisation of the tenderer’s proposed team, including CVs, and resources which ensures maximum efficiency in terms of the costs, speed and quality of the services requested;
A detailed description of the technical solutions proposed by the tenderer to meet the EBA’s requirements described in the Terms of Reference;
A detailed description of the tenderer’s understanding of EBA’sneeds and of the services requested;
A description of the approach and ideas the tenderer proposes for the redesign of the EBA website. This description should present both the project cycle proposed (methodology and timeline) and preliminary ideas in terms of design and layout.
Price:
The financial evaluation will be made on the basis of the prices offered in Annex I andthe table below. The cheapest price for each criterion (P1/P2/P3) receivesthe maximum pointsavailable. The remaining pricesreceive lower points in proportion to the cheapest price.
Financial Award Criteria / Maximum PointsP1Service operation, design and transition / 40
P2Website re-design and transition / 30
P3Additional service design and transition / 30
Financial scores shall be calculated therefore according to the following formula:Financial score for TenderA = 40*(P1 min/P1 A) + 30*(P2 min/P2 A) + 30*(P3 min/P3 A)
Where:
P (1/2/3) min = cheapest price among the tenders for P1, P2, P3
P (1/2/3) A = price for P1, P2, P3from Tender A
Final Evaluation
The most economically advantageous tenderwill then be calculated by weighing technical merit against price on a 75/25 basisaccording to the following formula:
For Tender A = 75/100*(technical score Tender A) + 25/100*(financial score Tender A)
16. Tender to be Submitted
In order to assess each tenderer according to the abovementioned criteria, the following information must be submitted by the tenderer:
- A letter enclosing the tender on the official letter headed paper of the tenderer signed by an authorised representative of the tenderer.
- An information sheet on the tenderer indicating:
the name and registered business address including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address and website address, and any other different, current or previous trading name;
the name and contact details of the person who may be contacted with any queries regarding this tender;
the legal status of the tenderer;
if the tenderer is a partnership the full details of the partners;
if the tenderer is a company the company registration number, VAT registration number and date of incorporation;
if the tenderer is a member of a group of companies the relationship between the tenderer and the ultimate holding company, the name and address of the holding company and its registration number, whether the ultimate holding company would be prepared to guarantee the liabilities in connection with this contract;
details of organisational structure including organisation chart;
number and locations of premises;
number of employees;
name of the person authorised to sign contracts on behalf of the tenderer.
- Completed declaration in Annex II relating to the exclusion criteria.
- Completed Legal Entity and Bank Account Files
- Documentation requested to enable assessment of the selection criteria (points 13 and 14 above).
- The technical information requested to enable assessment of the award criteria (point 15 above).
- A statement to confirm that information provided in response to this tender is accurate and complete as at the date of submission and acknowledgement that the provision of false information, either knowingly or negligently, in response to this tender could result in the tenderer being excluded from future tenders for contracts with the EBA.
- Confirmation of acceptance of the draft contracts and terms and conditions of the tender.
- An undertaking to inform the EBA promptly following any matter which would alter or add to any of the information given in response to this tender.
- Tenders submitted by consortia or by groups of service providers or suppliersmust indicate the role, title and experience of each member or of the group.
- To be submitted in a separate,clearly labelled binderor folder, which must be placed inside a sealed envelope, a detailed financial tender using the Costing Sheet attached in Annex I, exclusive of VAT, and signed by an authorised representative of the tenderer.
- Tenderers are requested to make use of the checklist given in Annex III to ensure that no enclosure has been omitted in their tender.
Annexes